Infrastructure gap hurts U.S. refiners, more news

-A lack of infrastructure in the U.S. has made the refining process less efficient than it can be, Marathon Petroleum CEO Gary Heminger said during a CERAWeek panel on Tuesday. Via FuelFix, Heminger said domestic refiners have an advantage over international competitors due to the variety of available crude blends in the U.S. More pipelines are needed, however, to ensure those crude blends can be processed.

-Also at CERAWeek, TransCanada President of Liquids Pipelines Paul Miller said his company is considering ways to deliver Canadian crude to Louisiana’s refining market. Via Reuters, Miller said TransCanada could extend its 700,000-barrel-per-day Oklahoma-to-Texas MarketLink pipeline to connect to a new terminal or that of a partnering firm.

-Meanwhile, the Obama Administration on Tuesday recommended providing states with $3.5 billion in funding over 10 years to replace old, leaking natural gas pipelines. Via Reuters, the spending would be part of a $15 billion package that also includes investments in electric grid modernization and transportation infrastructure.

-PDVSAreceived key equipment needed to advance an expansion and modernization project at its Puerto La Cruz refinery in Pennsylvania, the Oil & Gas Journal reports. The project will allow the refinery to process heavy and extra-heavy crude oil from Venezuela’s Orinoco region.

-National Oilwell CFO Jeremy Thigpen has been named CEO of Transocean. Thigpen succeeds Steven Newman, who stepped down in February. National Oilwell Chief Accounting Officer Scott Duff will serve as CFO until the company finds a permanent replacement for Thigpen.